[avant-garde]

This is pertaining to the fact that various value systems have emerged and become accepted in recent decades. Many people say that "moral diversity," like freedom, is one of the best things that ever happened to humanity. But, is it?

[derrek]

It's good on paper. I've always said people are too dumb to be completely free.

[Temoin la Nuit]

Someone's right, and someone's wrong. The only difference now is that the government and establishment aren't telling us (correctly or incorrectly) who it is. That's a good thing.

If you hold strong convictions, the beliefs of the people around you shouldn't change anything.

[Tuffcore]

Ethical standards are forms of control strategies by the government.

Thing is, the basic intention of human life is survival. This can be achieved by scratching, scraping, robbery, rape, killing, etc and the government cannot send police to attend to every little jab a person does to their neighbors. So instead, they preach a moral standard. They hold a Bible up to your face and use scare tactics to guilt you into behaving. And it works.

[Lily Linh]

Someone's right, and someone's wrong. The only difference now is that the government and establishment aren't telling us (correctly or incorrectly) who it is. That's a good thing.

If you hold strong convictions, the beliefs of the people around you shouldn't change anything.

I disagree. However strong you believe your convictions are, when you begin to see life through the perspectives of others- you'd be a fool to not change in same manner. For instance, if you were born a Southern Baptist all your life in the bible-belt of America and always taught that being homosexual was an abomination- and then you move to the city and befriend a gay person. No matter how strong your convictions are in the past, you'd be a fool to be so close-minded as to not accept that person.

Life happens and I think that's why nothing is ever absolute. I think it's about questioning what is the truth because the truth comes and goes according to the specific time in your life.

[HaplessChild]

^Agreed. "True" changes when the variables change.

[Lenduro]

Is the topic about morality or just about anything?

[CharlotteDarcy]

there are two things that will always be absolute: tax and death.

[avant-garde]

"The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one."
- George Bernard Shaw

Interesting. Why do you think that?

[sunnyskys*]

Well, those are relativistic concepts: "Believer" is only what it is compared to its opposing definition. Same with "drunken" and "sober".

In addition, what defines happiness? If the accepted meaning of it is to be content with what one has, then a believer may be just as happy as a skeptic because the skeptic is grateful for his or her ability to think critically/question while the believer possesses a thought/entity that allows him to understand something. Both of them have something to appreciate.

I know this is dwelling into relativism again but being drunk and being sober: Which state is more real? Are they both real? They certainly aren't "fake" experiences.

Being drunk means you know what it's like to be sober. Being sober probably means you know what it's like to be drunk.


In response to Temoin la Nuit:

Strong convictions are influenced by people. Humans are to the very core, social creatures. If one was to live in a bubble your whole life, would s/he develop her/his own "strong convictions"? How would s/he learn the language to think? When one thinks, it's from the language learned from others. Why is it that certain sayings and phrases from some cultures cannot be translated exactly into another language? Why is it that there is such thing as shared values and beliefs? Is it just by chance that all these people coincidentally happen to think along the same lines when they attend the same schools/hang out with the same people/read the same newspapers?

I don't think you're wrong by the way. I think it's an ideal though. I would love to believe that all of my beliefs are of me only but I can't deny the connections and dynamics between myself and other people/institutions.